Rihanna: Staying with Chris Brown Was "Wrong"

Rihanna says her February altercation with ex-boyfriend Chris Brown was "humiliating" and she was "wrong" to go back to him.

"That's embarrassing that that's the type of person that I fell in love with," Rihanna told Diane Sawyer on Good Morning America in her first television interview since the assault. "So far in love. So unconditional that I went back. It's humiliating to say this happened. To accept that? It's a traumatizing experience."

The 21-year-old admits she went back to Brown, whom she said held her in a headlock twice and bit her on the ear and fingers during the Feb. 8 incident — a decision she now regrets. "I stayed. I even went back after he beat me, which was wrong," she said. "But again ... I'm a human being and people put me on a very unrealistic pedestal. And all these expectations, I'm not perfect." It's "completely normal" for the victim to go back to the abuser, she noted. But Rihanna said she later realized her decision sent the wrong message to her fans and other women in similar domestic violence situations.

"When I realized that my selfish decision for love could result in some young girl getting killed, I could not be easy with that part. I couldn't be held responsible for going back," she said. "Even if Chris never hit me again, who is to say that their boyfriend won't? Who's to say that they won't kill these girls? These are young girls and I just didn't realize how much of an impact I had on these girls' lives until that happened."Meanwhile, Brown, 20 — who was

sentenced to five years of probation, six months of community service and one year of domestic violence counseling and cannot contact Rihanna for five years — told MTV in a new special that he's not sure how the public perceives him anymore.

"I'm confused right now as far as the public perception [of me]," he said. "Like, I think with my fans, they still love me, they support me, definitely. You have those people who will support you. So it's kind of like 50/50 for me. I got the people that will come out and support and then the people that don't want to see me do anything. They basically want me in jail."Brown's special, Chris Brown: The Interview, airs Friday at 6/5c. Segments of Rihanna's sit-down with Sawyer will air Friday on Good Morning America. The full interview will air on 20/20 Friday at 10/9c.